My friend George and I got to talking about who was the most popular actress among that portion of the population that prefer to live at addresses that are prime numbers, and name their cats after computer programs. Yes, I’m talking about geeks.
So far, the contenders are:
Jessica Alba (Dark Angel, Sin City)
Jeanette Lee (Pool player)* Not an actress
Kitty Pryde (Not real)
Aeryn Sun (Farscape)
Kate Beckinsale (Underworld)
Jolene Blaylock (Vulcan on Enterprise)
What’sername… the Borg chick… Jeri Ryan
Lucy Lawless
I pointed out that Kitty Pryde wasn’t real, but George pointed out that this really wasn’t a factor for geeks, because, let’s face it, are geeks more likely to get to third base with Kate Beckinsale than with an imaginary person? Not really.
My pick was Jessica Alba, until I understood that imaginary people count. Then I switched to Rogue from the X-Men. But her power it to basically suck the energy out of people and kill them if she can touch your skin. So that makes her a bad choice, much worse than even an ex-girlfriend.
Of course, the original sci-fi babe, Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols, is still a good choice.
“Do stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager.”
“When, after a few years or a few months of a relationship, we find that we’re still unfulfilled, we blame our partners and take up with somebody more promising. This can go on and on—series polygamy—until we admit that while a partner can add sweet dimensions to our lives, we, each of us, are responsible for our own fulfillment. Nobody else can provide it for us, and to believe otherwise is to delude ourselves dangerously and to program for eventual failure every relationship we enter.”
If Nichelle Nichols is in the running, then make mine Diana Rigg, who was recently voted the most sexy TV star ever. When she played Mrs. Peel in The Avengers, she got to wear a leather cat suit and did martial arts fighting way before Dark Angel or The Matrix's Trinity. In fact, I'd say that she singlehandedly invented the archetype. Angelina J. in Hackers is a distant echo of Ms. Rigg.
I just IMed George to ask him how in the world you guys missed Natalie Portman. He replied with a bunch of tapdancing intended to distract me from his obvious and embarassing error, so I'm forced to put the question to you.
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